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SI: Pro athletes say they would accept gay teammates

Who knew the men on ice were so cool? Sports Illustrated reports that in a survey of 346 professional hockey players, nearly 80 percent of National Hockey League players said they would welcome an openly gay teammate.

Throughout the professional sports world, the majority of athletes told Sports Illustrated that they’d welcome a gay player with the National Football League reporting 57 percent acceptance among the 357 respondents, the National Basketball Association reporting nearly 60 percent acceptance from the 248 respondents and Major League Baseball reporting nearly 62 percent acceptance from the 450 respondents.

Surprisingly, the study found that rookies were less likely to be accepting than their more seasoned counterparts with 41 percent acceptance among NFL rookies and 48 percent among NBA rookies.